Cabinet Okays Buying Land In Seminole

SANFORD — The state Cabinet this week approved the first purchase of land in the 1,500-acre Spring Hammock wildlife habitat between Longwood and Sanford.

But the money to buy the parcel for inclusion in a planned preservation area will not be available until October 1987, a Seminole County planner said.

The Cabinet approved a request from the state Department of Natural Resources to pay the Lake Jessup Woods Partnership $705,600 for the parcel, 234.64 acres on the north shore of Lake Jessup, said Jerry Ivester, a land acquisition agent for the department. The partnership also agreed to donate 39.8 acres adjoining that lakefront parcel, Ivester said.

Seminole County has been trying to get the state to buy the land since 1980, said Tony VanDerworp, the county's planning director.

The money for such land purchases is in a trust fund the Legislature set up for the natural resources department's Conservation and Recreation Lands program.

Spring Hammock is 10th on the department's priority list for purchases and other projects will receive money first, VanDerworp said. The state hopes to negotiate purchase contracts for most of the 37 parcels in Spring Hammock when the money becomes available, he said.

Spring Hammock has a variety of plant and animal life, including some that are threatened, endangered or species of special concern.